Rematch made in House 96 race

Rogers' District 96 race is a rematch between two of the three contenders from the 2014 race, a narrowing of the field the third-party challenger believes will help him.

Rep. Grant Hodges, R-Rogers, is the incumbent who defeated both Libertarian Michael J. Kalagias and a Democrat in 2014, the district's first general election contest since 2002. Kalagias said he has learned much from that first campaign.

"I'm in this to win, not to prove something for the Libertarian Party," he said.

Hodges expects the same factors that prevailed in the last election will prevail this time, he said, especially since he now has a conservative record to run on.

"The voters elected me because I share their values, and now I have a record," he said. "I've done exactly what I said I was going to do."

The area that is now District 96 has a history as one as the safest Republican seats in the state Legislature. The district reaches into downtown Rogers and stretches over eastern Benton County, taking in much of the area around Beaver Lake. It stretches as far north as the Missouri border and as far south as the Benton County line.

Hodges cited his voting record in support of conservative causes such as gun owners' rights and opposition to abortion. He was one of the few state House members who voted against "Arkansas Works," the state plan that uses federal taxpayer money to extend health care coverage to lower-income Arkansans who are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid assistance.

"If you want to spend money to improve health, there is data to show that the more educated you are, the healthier you are," Hodges said. "There's an argument to be made that if you want to improve health, you should spend taxpayer money on education."

Both candidates are opposed to abortion and support gun owners' rights, Kalagias said. And both opposed the health care plan in the 2014 election and again in this one.

"We could open a free health care clinic in every county for less money than we're spending in that program," Kalagias said.

The Republicans gained majorities in both chambers and won statewide offices in 2014, but "nothing changed," he said. "They added $5 billion to the state budget, and we're more than $40 billion in debt," he said. "A lot of that is gifts to wealthy corporation owners, such as the Big River Steel project in east Arkansas."

"He'll say the same things as I do, but he hasn't done anything about it," Kalagias said of Hodges.

Hodges said the state's debt, which largely includes bonds issued for highways and such, was amassed before Republicans took over the Legislature.

"I'm a good conservative, but I can work with Democrats," Hodges said. "Two of the five bills I passed had Warwick Sabin as a co-sponsor. I don't think you could find a Democrat in the House who's more liberal than Warwick Sabin."

Republicans and Democrats often work together because they work for largely the same goals, Kalagias said. Significant savings could be achieved in the cost of state government by reducing the role state governments have in regulating and overseeing schools, county and city governments, he said.

Having local authorities who have to obey rules set and enforced by the state is redundant and costly, he said.

NW News on 10/14/2016